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A plan to impose a mandatory buffer between homes and new wind projects would put tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of regional investment at risk, according to new modelling by the Clean Energy Council.
The analysis, provided to The Age, estimates the Victorian Liberal and Nationals policy of a two- kilometre setback would put $3.9 billion in local wages and more than $200 million in landholder and community payments at risk over the next decade.
The future of the state’s renewable energy projects is emerging as a key battleground ahead of the November election, particularly in farming communities in the west, where landholders are pushing back against the rapid expansion of wind, solar and battery projects.
Under current planning rules, wind turbines must be at least one kilometre from existing homes unless residents provide written consent for them to be closer. But the Coalition has promised to reinstate a Baillieu-era policy and extend the setback to two kilometres and expand it to all regional energy projects.
It argues the plan would give greater protection and certainty to residents living near renewable sites.
However, analysis by the Clean Energy Council found doubling the setback would remove about 70 per cent of the land currently available for wind energy projects and put a pipeline of projects at risk.
It also found that much of the remaining land was fragmented and would be disconnected from existing transmission infrastructure, making development effectively unviable.
According to the council, which is Australia’s biggest renewables lobby group and represents nearly 1000 companies involved in the sector, renewable projects in Victoria are expected to generate 26,000 jobs by 2035, the majority in short-term construction and installation roles in the regions.
Ahead of the state election, the Coalition has sought to capitalise on growing anger from regional areas, where there has been strong backlash from farming communities which argue they should not have to shoulder a disproportionate share of Victoria’s energy transition on agricultural land.
As part of its analysis, the council compared the Coalition’s setback policy with policies in other jurisdictions and found the plan would give Victoria some of the most restrictive renewable planning rules in Australia.
In NSW, the government implements a buffer of between one and 2.2 kilometres, depending on the height of the turbines, while South Australia enforces a setback of between 1.5 and two kilometres.
The council said comparable restrictions in Europe – including in the German state of Bavaria, where a two-kilometre buffer was enforced – crippled the local industry.
As well as vowing to set back wind farms, the Coalition has promised to give regional communities more input into projects in their areas, and has committed to building urban solar parks in metropolitan areas.
The Coalition said it would also pause and review the controversial Victoria-to-NSW Interconnector West and Western Renewables Link transmission line projects that would carry electricity from new renewable projects to homes and businesses.
Opposition energy spokesman David Davis said the extended buffer zone would minimise the impact on local communities and strike a fairer balance.
“We have committed to pause and review the long-distance wire projects to ensure value for money and rigorous cost benefit analysis to protect consumers from Labor’s surging electricity bills,” he said.
“Our balanced approach will ensure proper protection for country communities, a restoration of basic democratic rights while keeping control of spiralling energy infrastructure costs ultimately paid for by struggling families and small business struggling under Labor’s massive taxes.”
Davis also said urban solar parks in industrial and commercial zones across Melbourne, which would pair rooftop solar panels with battery storage near to where there is high demand for energy, were ripe for opportunity.
“With countless hectares of available roof space across warehouses and factories, these precincts have the potential to generate and store significant amounts of electricity, helping power homes and businesses while reducing pressure on the grid,” he said.
Clean Energy Council chief executive Jackie Trad – a former Queensland deputy premier and Labor MP – said the proposed setback policy risked undermining Victoria’s future energy security, as well as regional investment.
“Victoria needs new electricity generation to replace rapidly deteriorating coal-fired power stations and maintain reliable supply for homes, businesses and industry,” Trad said.
“A two-kilometre setback would gut Victoria’s development pipeline and with it, any credible path to meeting future energy demand.”
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